Blogging for Profit, a.k.a. Mukhang Pera
Someone explain this to me. Just what is the deal with doing everything in your power to earn from your blog, especially one that is sorely lacking in content and presentation? I can understand earning from it, if and only if you actually establish yourself as a half-decent writer (learning to spell and proper use of grammar wouldn't hurt either, as it gives you this little thing I like to call "credibility") - but complaining about low revenue from a half-assed work not even fit to be called insightful commentary is pathetic.
Starting a blog "just because it's popular," hoping to emulate the truly interesting and popular ones, even picking up popular or "buzz" topics to generate traffic / controversy and hoping that some magical layout or ad placement will bring the money in by the truck is just plain idiotic. It's nice to give a nod to your influences, but don't steal their thunder. If you respect them, understand what makes them respectable, and find a way to create a name for yourself on your own merits. To put it bluntly, create your own style, produce your own material, build up your own image without having to resort to OMGWTFBBQLAYOUT!!1 and AdSense taking up half of your home page. Because guess what, people actually use Adblock. There's such a thing as ad desensitization. A lot of savvy users already know where to find good content, and some blog in the backwaters of the web with incorrigible English isn't going to elicit a boatload of respect. That's where originality and insight come in. The content comes first, then comes interest, and if, if, if you're lucky, people will actually find your stuff interesting enough to merit a click on an ad or two. Since when did money come first? We have a saying back here in the Philippines: mukhang pera. It directly translates to "looking like money," and means that on one's list of priorities, money comes way, way first. I'm not saying that it's bad to earn from your blog / writing. If you do, and you can actually make a living off of it, then by all means, more power to you. But the second you turn it around - the second that money is the primary motivation for anything, not just blogging - then, my friend, mukha ka talagang pera.
It's not often that I rant in public, but this time it's gone too far. Flame me if you must, but I had to get this off my chest. It's not like anything will change, anyway.
Starting a blog "just because it's popular," hoping to emulate the truly interesting and popular ones, even picking up popular or "buzz" topics to generate traffic / controversy and hoping that some magical layout or ad placement will bring the money in by the truck is just plain idiotic. It's nice to give a nod to your influences, but don't steal their thunder. If you respect them, understand what makes them respectable, and find a way to create a name for yourself on your own merits. To put it bluntly, create your own style, produce your own material, build up your own image without having to resort to OMGWTFBBQLAYOUT!!1 and AdSense taking up half of your home page. Because guess what, people actually use Adblock. There's such a thing as ad desensitization. A lot of savvy users already know where to find good content, and some blog in the backwaters of the web with incorrigible English isn't going to elicit a boatload of respect. That's where originality and insight come in. The content comes first, then comes interest, and if, if, if you're lucky, people will actually find your stuff interesting enough to merit a click on an ad or two. Since when did money come first? We have a saying back here in the Philippines: mukhang pera. It directly translates to "looking like money," and means that on one's list of priorities, money comes way, way first. I'm not saying that it's bad to earn from your blog / writing. If you do, and you can actually make a living off of it, then by all means, more power to you. But the second you turn it around - the second that money is the primary motivation for anything, not just blogging - then, my friend, mukha ka talagang pera.
It's not often that I rant in public, but this time it's gone too far. Flame me if you must, but I had to get this off my chest. It's not like anything will change, anyway.